Jason Laws’ mugshot from December 2012.
EDWARDS CO.—Jason Laws, the man who was found to have filched hundreds of thousands of dollars from Albion’s House of Prayer church, has entered a plea in his case as of this morning, 04.11.13.
Laws was charged last December with Theft greater than $100,000 from a place of worship, a Class X felony, and two counts of forgery, both Class 3. This morning, with appellate prosecutor David ‘Rollover’ Rands handling the case on a conflict for Edwards’ prosecutor Mike Valentine, a plea was negotiated in all the felonies: Guilty of the Class X and the first of the two Forgery counts.
Laws was subsequently sentenced by judge Mark Shaner to three years DOC on the Class X Theft, and three years probation on the Forgery.
He’s also been ordered to make restitution in the amount of $283,422 to the House of Prayer as part of his sentencing, as well as complete 300 hours of public service work as soon as his DOC sentence is fulfilled. There’s no indication in current paperwork as to whether the $100,000 cash bond Laws was able to post in the case on Dec. 19, 2012, will be applied to the restitution. Laws has not been transported to DOC as of yet, and his status is unclear as of press information we obtained from Edwards County’s State’s Attorney’s office; look for updated information in the upcoming print version next Tuesday, or the e-Edition, which should be appearing online beginning Monday night.